Deep Dish Vs. Thin Crust At Little Star In SF

When a pizza place has its menu sectioned off between deep dish pies and thin crust pies its usually a warning sign. In fact, deep dish pies on any pizza menu should be alarming. Other than perhaps one or two Pizzeria Uno locations in Manhattan it’s actually impossible to get a deep dish pie there. …

Review Overview

Overall Experience - 8

80

8

Summary : I liked Little Star more than I thought I would -- for both the quality of their deep dish and regular pies. It's not easy to do both well and Little Star gets it right.

8

When a pizza place has its menu sectioned off between deep dish pies and thin crust pies its usually a warning sign. In fact, deep dish pies on any pizza menu should be alarming. Other than perhaps one or two Pizzeria Uno locations in Manhattan it’s actually impossible to get a deep dish pie there. And there is a reason for that. In San Francisco, on the other hand, there are a handful of places that serve deep dish pies.

On of them is Little Star, a mini chain with three locations in the Western Addition, Mission and Albany neighborhoods. I’d heard their pies were good. But it had everything going against it when I sat down: (a) it had deep dish pies on the menu, (b) it was a mini chain, and (c) it’s in San Francisco (a fact not to be overlooked — pizza in San Francisco just isn’t that good in general).

Given all of this, I was pleasantly surprised when I bit into both a thin crust and deep dish pie my friend and I ordered. They were pretty good. Not “go out of your way and run here now” good. But above average. We opted for a “Classic” personal deep dish (sausage, mushrooms, onions, green bells) which cost $8.95 and a “Little Star” personal thin crust (spinach blended with ricotta & feta, mushrooms, onions, garlic) for the same price.

The deep dish pie had a flavorful sauce and was not disgustingly heavy. I strongly recommend the personal sized pie — which I’ve also enjoyed at places like Lou Malnati’s in Chicago — because they hold together well. With a large pie you often end up eating clumps of cheese and sauce. All of the other ingredients added a different element to the pie, but none stood out in a negative way. I didn’t have high hopes for this pie, but as far as deep dish goes… it was solid.

Although our thin crust Little Star pie looked tasty, I was unsure how it would stack up to the deep dish pie. In short: it stacked up well. I was nervous about the onions and mushrooms in particular, but they were both cooked to perfection. I was nervous about the pie having too heavy of a ricotta flavor, but it had just the right amount of cheese. The crust was soft and thick enough to hold together the toppings. Another hit when I least expected it.

Classic Deep Dish

Thin Crust Little Star

I’m certainly not going to tell you that you must try Little Star. But it’s certainly a viable option for pizza in San Francisco. They use good ingredients, their menu is focused on a small number of pies — all of which they presumably do well, the prices are reasonable, and the service was friendly. Maybe we’ll be seeing a few more Little Star locations in the coming years. I’d be in favor of that.

About I Dream Of Pizza

Some guys dream about winning the Powerball jackpot, making love to Kate Upton, or scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. But personally, I spend most of my time dreaming about digging my face into a mouth watering slice of pizza. Fireworks are ignited. Music comes out of nowhere. And just like that, I’ve fallen in love once again. Since 2008, I've chronicled my pizza eating adventures in New York City and around the world on I Dream Of Pizza -- the web's most popular blog dedicated entirely to pizza.